


Soft

by rudbeckia



Series: candyfloss marshmallow fluff [3]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Sharing a Bed, benarmie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-16 22:39:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13645884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: Armitage Hux is fast asleep in his dorm room when Ben Solo knocks on his door at 3am. Ben’s in need of company and comfort. Well then. Armitagedidsay he could come over anytime.Various fluff ficlets. Expect my favourite trope:Oh no! There’s only one bed and it’s a single.Add a helping ofwe’re just friends making out a bitandwe can have sex if you want it’s nbd.Oh you want a side order ofwe have to share a shower cubicle? Mmhmm?The M rating is for chapters 4 and 5. They’re super tame.





	1. I couldn’t sleep anyway

Armitage stood back from the door to let Ben in. The corridor housing the rows of identical dorm rooms was dimly lit since it was long after lights out. The only other sound was Armitage’s neighbour banging on the wall and telling him to shut the fuck up. Ben banged the wall in return and yelled, “Sorreeee!” while Armitage smiled and shushed. 

“Sorry to show up like this,” said Ben, “but I had that dream again and you said—“  
“It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep anyway. Want a cup of tea? I was getting up to make one.”  
Ben knew it was a lie but pretended that showing up at his friend’s door at three in the morning was normal. He dropped his coat, kicked off his shoes and sank onto the bed. Armitage made tea and settled beside Ben. He blew over the top and slurped a little. 

“Do you want to sleep here?” asked Armitage after a quiet minute. 

Ben sipped slowly at the slightly bitter drink. “Would you mind?” he asked softly.

“I said you could come round if it happened again,” Armitage replied, “and sleep here whenever you need to. Same dream?”

Ben nodded. “Same ugly face whispering terrible things.” He shivered. “Nasty.”

They sat in silence until Armitage took their empty mugs over to the shelf that served as a worktop and left them for morning. When he turned, Ben’s head was nodding on his chest and his eyes were closed. He touched Ben’s shoulder and Ben jerked awake.  
“Hey,” he said, “get into bed before you fall asleep.”

“I’ll take the floor,” replied Ben. “It’s not fair to turf you out of your own bed.”  
“I... I thought we might...” Armitage shrugged. “I mean if you don’t mind. It’d be warmer and more comfortable.”  
“I didn’t bring anything,” said Ben.  
“That’s a problem for the morning,” said Armitage. “Get into bed.”  
“You’re bossy!” Ben smiled, stood up and took off his jeans and hoody, dropping them on the floor. He slipped his feet out of his socks by rubbing the soles of his feet backwards on the rug.  
“Well then,” said Armitage with a put-on sneer that lapsed into a smile. “I _order_ you to get into my bed.” 

The mattress was still warm in the hollow Armitage vacated when Ben knocked on his door. Ben snuggled into the centre of the bed for a few seconds then shuffled over on his side and held the blankets back. Armitage lay facing away from Ben. Ben’s hand touched his shoulder and he lifted his head to allow Ben’s arm to slide under his neck and curl around the front of his shoulders. Ben’s other hand landed on his waist.

“Is this okay?” Ben asked, breath tickling Armitage’s neck.  
“Go to sleep,” replied Armitage, taking Ben’s hand and cradling it against his chest.  
Armitage soon dozed, but before sleep claimed him he felt the press of lips to his shoulder and heard a softly whispered _thank you._


	2. Cold Feet

Armitage woke because he was cold. The solid warmth of Ben was at his back but his front and his legs from the knees down had no protection from the chilly air. Armitage silently cursed the heating that clicked off at ten each night and did not come back on until six. He turned, tucking his knees up into the L-shape space behind Ben’s knees and fitting himself against Ben’s back, then grabbed a handful of the covers and pulled.

They did not budge. Armitage sighed and checked the time. It was only five, he’d been asleep for about an hour and a half, and he was going to be grumpy if he didn’t get at least another two solid hours of sleep before he was required to speak to anyone. He felt along the blankets. His hand reached a knot of blanket held fast over Ben’s head. 

Ben whimpered a little. Armitage stroked Ben’s upper arm, feeling the tense muscles bulge under his warm skin, and wondered if he could make Ben release the covers without waking him. Gentle tugs had no effect. Stronger pulls made Ben curl up even tighter.

A thought struck Armitage and he sniggered. He brought one leg up and hooked it over Ben’s thigh. The sole of his cold foot landed on Ben’s shin.

The shriek that came from Ben woke Mitaka next door, who banged on the wall again. Simultaneously, Ben sat bolt upright, arms flailing, and knocked Armitage out of bed. Armitage yelped and hit the floor.

“Shit!” Ben’s pale face loomed over the edge of the bed. “Are you okay?”  
“Ugh, yes,” said Armitage, pushing himself onto his knees then sitting on the edge of the bed. “I woke you and you got a fright.”  
“I was having the dream again.” Ben swung his legs across and sat beside Armitage. “Sorry. It was a particularly vivid one. There were fires and I felt like something was burning my legs.”  
“Oh.” Armitage kept quiet about his involvement in Ben’s dream. He got up. “Get up a minute?”  
Ben stood up. Armitage shook out the blankets and made the bed neat again, tucking the blankets firmly under “his” corner of the mattress.  
“Get back into bed.”  
“Really I should take the floor,” said Ren. “Let you sleep.”  
“Get in!” Armitage held the covers up. Ben smiled and settled into the warmth. 

Armitage lay on his side, facing Ben.  
"If you steal the blankets, I am going to put my cold feet on you,” said Armitage, smiling at the glint of reflected light in Ben’s eyes. “That should put out any fire in your dreams.”  
Ben laughed. He sat up, reached down and grabbed one of Armitage’s feet, pulling it up to his mouth and holding it firmly while he sucked on Armitage’s three middle toes. Armitage squirmed and giggled as much with surprise as at the hot tickle.

 _“Fucking Hell SHUT UP!”_ came the yell from next door. _“SOME OF US NEED SLEEP!”_


	3. Talking in your sleep

Armitage woke and silenced his alarm before it woke Ben. His friend had been murmuring in his sleep for about a minute: indistinct syllables and breathed out words that made no sense to Armitage’s ears. Just a dream, thought Armitage. Hopefully not a variation of the same one that had brought Ben to his door in the small hours. He slipped carefully out of bed and rinsed last night’s tea mugs in the corner sink and refilled the kettle, hoping the noise wouldn’t wake Ben. He’d looked exhausted at three in the morning and sleepy at five. Seven was too early for him after all that. 

“Mmmarmie... mmmmhmmm.”

Armitage’s skin prickled and his face warmed. He turned to watch Ben, lying on his front with his face half-buried in the pillow.

“Mmhmm... yeah...”

He should wake Ben up. He should...

“Mmm... Armiemmmhmmm.”

...throw a pillow in his face and say something jokey. He should definitely not be listening to this. Armitage dried the mugs and set them on the shelf, eyes still on Ben, feeling the room somehow getting warmer. He missed with one of the mugs—half on and half off the shelf, it tumbled to the desk below and landed with a bang.

“HUX, NO! NO!”

Armitage shot over to Ben side. Kneeling on the floor and leaning over the bed, he cradled Ben’s head and patted his cheek to wake him. Ben sat up, pushing Armitage off and rubbing his eyes, hands scraping his thick hair back from his face.

“I heard you talking in your sleep,” said Armitage. “Was it another bad dream?”  
Ben lay back and nodded. “It didn’t start out bad at all,” he said, not making eye contact, yawning. “You were in it.”  
“Oh?” said Armitage, feigning innocence. He lounged beside Ben, propped up on one elbow, but did not dare touch him. “What was dream-me doing?”  
“Doesn’t matter,” replied Ben, and Armitage smiled as a hint of a blush coloured Ben’s bed-wrinkled face. “You were... being nice to me,” said Ben. “Then the dream changed. I was hurt on the ground and you were trying to shoot me.”  
“Well then,” said Armitage brightly. “It’s a good thing it was a dream and I don’t have a gun.” 

The kettle rumbled in the background then clicked off. Ben flinched. Armitage asked, “Tea?”  
“No,” replied Ben. “Stay here for another minute. Please.”

Armitage lay down. Ben pulled him on top, bunched up blankets disguising any physical evidence of dream-Armie’s actions. Armitage combed Ben’s soft hair with his fingers.  
“You called me Armie,” said Armitage, “in your dream. When I was being nice.”  
“Oh fuck,” said Ben, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “Did I say anything else?”  
“No,” said Armitage with a grin. “Just a lot of incoherent moaning. You can call me Armie. I like it.”  
Ben froze. Armitage lay still until he felt Ben relax then kissed him gently and added, “If you like I can be nice to you too.”


	4. My new pillow

Ben had sleepily accepted the kiss but froze again at Armitage’s words. “What do you mean,” he asked, “by you could be nice to me?”

“Well,” Armitage said with the best casual shrug he could manage without slipping off Ben’s solid bulk. “I mean, I think you... I want...” He sighed and slid sideways then stood up. “Sorry. I heard you say my name in your sleep. The way you said it sounded... then you said I was being nice and I thought... Doesn’t matter. It was just some stupid dream.” He clicked the kettle back on. “Tea?” 

“No,” said Ben, sitting up and swinging his legs out of bed. He held out his hand. “I don’t want tea. I want you to come here and tell me what you meant.” After a minute of Armitage staring into the carton of Yorkshire Tea, Ben added, “please?”

Armitage glanced at Ben’s face expecting confusion, or a surprised stare to which he could reply _gotcha!_ and laugh, or the worst: derision to end their friendship. But Ben’s face was serious with a glimmer of a surprised smile. Armitage put the tea down and stepped close enough to take Ben’s hand.

Ben pulled. “Sit,” he said, patting the bed with his free hand. Armitage sat. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions,” explained Ben. “I want to be sure you’re saying what I think you’re saying.”

Armitage looked at Ben. The seriousness was still there but wrinkled brows had chased away the smile. Ben looked at their clasped hands and chewed at his lip. 

“I mean,” said Armitage, “we can have sex if you’d like that.” 

Ben did not reply right away but neither did he let go Armitage’s hand or shove him away. Armitage squeezed Ben’s hand and said, “would you?”

“It’s seven twenty in the morning,” said Ben, jerking a thumb at the wall. “We might wake Mitaka.”

Armitage felt a giggle rise up his chest. “I suppose we’ll have to be quiet. Why don’t we start with you telling me about the nice part of you dream?”

Ben refused, reddening, shaking his head and laughing. Armitage pushed him back down onto the bed, peeled off his shorts, pushed his shirt up and kissed a line from his sternum to his cock. Ben groaned loudly as Armitage grasped the base to angle it up and closed his mouth over the head. Ben pulled Armitage’s pillow out from under his head and used it to stifle the noises he couldn’t help make when Armitage sucked gently and stroked under his balls then rocked his head in a steady, slow rhythm. Armitage found it difficult to keep going—he wanted to laugh with delight at Ben’s muffled sounds of pleasure.

Afterwards, Ben pushed Armitage’s pillow to the floor. “Sorry. I’ll get you a new pillow. I made a mess of that one.”

Armitage shuffled up the bed and nestled his head on Ben’s shoulder. “No need,” he said, “you are my new pillow.”


	5. You smell really nice

It was morning and the fact that Ben hadn’t brought anything with him when he’d turned up in the early hours was now a problem. They drank tea, Armitage wishing aloud that he had a decent teapot and some proper leaf tea, Ben wrinkling his nose and wondering if Mitaka might have coffee.

“Want to use the showers?” asked Armitage.   
“Won’t someone report me if I’m seen?” said Ben with a frown. “I don’t want to get you into trouble. I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed overnight guests.”  
“You won’t get me into trouble,” replied Armitage, smiling. 

Armitage put on his robe, slung a towel over his shoulder, handed Ben his spare towel and grabbed his wash bag, then made a show of carefully peering into the corridor. He looked back over his shoulder at Ben and grinned.  
“Come on, follow me.” 

It was a quick march to the showers. Armitage led Ben to a cubicle, finger over his lips. “There’s only one free,” he mouthed. “We’ll have to share.”

They went into the cubicle and locked the door. There was a tiny changing area and a shower enclosure. Armitage hung his robe. Ben peeled off his shorts and vest, dropped both on the floor then wrapped his arms around Armitage and, under cover of the hiss of the adjacent showers, murmured, “You smell really nice.”  
Armitage laughed. “I smell,” he said quietly, “of sweat, sex, and not enough sleep.”

Armitage turned on the shower. Water bounced off their skin and sprayed into the changing area. Armitage used his shower gel to wash Ben’s hair, spreading lather down over his chest and stomach. Ben laughed and caught Armitage’s hands before they reached his cock.   
“Seriously, you’ll get kicked out of the dorm. Mitaka will report you to the dorm monitor!”  
“No,” Armitage insisted, “he won’t.”

Armitage pushed Ben back against the wall of the enclosure and kissed him. Ben felt their skin slide, warm from the hot water and slick with shower gel, and decided that Armitage was probably right. Armitage lived here and knew how to flout the rules. Ben bit his lip and closed his eyes as Armitage clasped his erection and trapped it between slippery thighs, rocking his hips. Ben put his arms around Armitage’s shoulders and responded with groans and deep kisses that grew more sloppy as the exciting tingle in his groin spread and promised to explode. Ben cried out as he came, then leaned against Armitage, laughing.

“I want to take you back to your bedroom and tease you with my mouth until you beg,” said Ben. “You up for that?”  
Armitage nodded then pointed at Ben’s underwear, soaked in a puddle of spray. 

Mitaka stared at the man Armitage led back to his room from the showers, glistening curls dripping water onto broad shoulders, modesty barely assured by a towel clinging around his hips. Once they’d disappeared into Armitage’s room, Mitaka texted his studybuddy Phasma.

_Dorm monitor’s new boyfriend has an eight pack_


End file.
